Oh, Say Can You See..: Is this cauliflower?

Thailand is really starting to toughen me up. When scary/creepy/things I don’t like used to happen at home I would either scream at the top of my lungs or yell, “MOM!” Now I'm not quite as bad..

It is officially hot season. I thought it has been super-hot the whole time I’ve been here, but boy was I wrong. With the weather change, my attire is changing too. Instead of wearing a t-shirt and capris to bed I have downgraded to a tank top and underwear (sorry for the image but it’s necessary for this story.) I was laying in bed the other night trying to sleep and I feel something bite my butt. I get up, turn on the light, shake out my sheets, and check all over the floor. I’ve got a bite, but no bugs to be found. So I turn off the lights and lay back down. A few minutes later, there is excruciating pain in my arm. I jump up, rip off my clothes and there it is. A centipede.

Don’t let this little guy fool you. He may be small, but his bite kills (or just hurts really bad.) He got me twice on my arm. It hurt so bad that I called the Peace Corps doctor to make sure I wasn’t going to die of some strange Asian bug poisoning. He assured me that the bite is just like a scorpion sting and you just have to wait it out. Good news – I am no longer scared of being stung by a scorpion. Bad news – I now am scared to death of centipedes. Moral of the story: always wear pants to bed.

We have also done a million other things this week. We ran a teacher training with about 150 Thai teachers from our community. My group taught them “English for the Classroom” and we modeled a bunch of activities they can use to integrate participatory learning in their classrooms. We also had a life skills camp and played games with kids to emphasize teamwork and critical thinking. Both of these events turned out way better than I expected and were a lot of fun!

I also did a lot of very “Thai” things this weekend. I visited temples. Fed some fish. Went to a wedding and had no idea who the bride and groom were. And I got my first Thai massage!